Manual plane



Dec. 2, 1969 c. H. MASUTANI 3,481,377

MANUAL PLANE Filed Aug. 16. 1967 Q PM FIG. 4 3/ i l, (I

INVENTOR. CHF/STOPf/ER hf MASZITAN/ BY W United States Patent 3,481,377 MANUAL PLANE Christopher H. Masutani, Kobe, Japan William G. {(512%) Jr., 440 College Park Drive, Monroeville, Pa.

Filed Aug. 16, 1967, Ser. No. 661,020 Int. Cl. B27g 17/02 US. Cl. 145-5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A manual plane that uses a conventional razor blade as the plane iron is provided. The construction of the plane permits adjustment of the blade and provides support for the blade in order to prevent chipping or breakage of the blade when making either shallow or deep surface shavings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION as the plane iron without the accompanying problems of chipping or breakage. .The novel plane also allows swift and accurate adjustment of the blade so as to permit variation of the depth of shaving.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hand plane is provided which uses a conventional razor blade as the plane iron. The plane is composed of a channel having a slot in the bottom thereof positioned traverse to the sides of thechannel, and a blade support mount attached to the channel bottoma distance from said slot, the top surface of the mount forming an acute angle with respect to said channel bottom. Attached to the blade support mount is a blade support, having a blade stop to position a razor blade so as to expose the razor bladecutting edge from said support, and a blade cover to hold the blade firmly to said support and against said blade stop. The blade support is slidably positioned on said mount so that the exposed blade edge can be adjusted as to its extension through the slot in the channel bottom to allow deep or shallow shaving.

The novel features of the invention will appear more fully from the following detailed description when the same is read with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are not intended as a definition of the invention, but are for the purpose of illustration only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing, wherein like parts are marked alike:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational cut-away view of the assembled plane of the invention ready for use.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the assembled plane of the invention.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the assembled blade support and blade of the plane of the invention.

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the assembled blade support and blade.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to FIGURES l and 2, there is shown the plane of the invention comprising a channel 11, having a 3,481,377 Patented Dec. 2, 1969 bottom 13 and a pair of upwardly extending side walls 15 and 15. The bottom 13 has therein a slot or long, narrow aperture 17. Slot 17 is positioned traverse of said bottom and has a length approximately equal to the distance between said side walls 15 and 15' so as to extend substantially the width of said bottom. The slot 17 must be of a suitable width to allow extension therethrough of the blade support 21, hereinafter described. Slot 17 may be of greater Width, as long as sufiicient undersurface of said bottom 13 is available to provide a smooth surface for passage over the material to be planed.

Attached to said bottom 13, between said side walls 15 and 15' and spaced a distance apart from said slot 17, is a blade support mount 19. The blade support mount 19 is constructed so that its top surface 20 and the bottom 13 form an acute angle on of approximately 20-25 This angle on establishes the slope of the blade support 21 and blade 25 thereon "to position the exposed blade edge 27 in relationship with the cutting surface, so as to provide a smooth cut without scratching said cutting surface and breakage or chipping of the blade. Positioned on and attached to said blade support mount 19 is the blade support 21.

The blade support 21 is illustrated more clearly in FIGURE 3. The blade support comprises a flat element having a front portion and a rear portion. Attached to the front portion thereof, where the blade 25 rests, is a blade cover 29, and at the rear portion thereof, a blade stop 23. The blade stop 23 may be attached to said element or may be a part of said element. The blade stop 23 is positioned a distance from the front edge of said blade support, said distance being slightly smaller than the width of a conventional razor blade 25 so that the blade edge 27 extends over the front edge of said element. The blade stop provides support for the blade while friction from the planing of a surface forces the blade firmly against said blade stop and prevents movement of the blade, which could cause chipping or breakage of the blade or scratching of the surface being shaved.

The flat element has at its front underside portion, juxtaposed to said exposed blade edge, a beveled surface 28. The bevel provides an exposed edge of the flat element that is substantially level with the bottom 13 of the channel 11. The angle of the bevel, ,9, with respect to the bottom 13, is supplemenary to the angle 0:, hereinbefore described. The sum of these angles, on and p, is substantially so that a flat underside surface is provided the length of the underside of bottom 13. This bevel permits the flat element to provide substantial support for the blade 25 up to the blade edge 27 even when the blade support 21 is exposed through the slot 17.

The flat element may be provided with a groove 39 near the blade stop 23, which is adapted to receive a single edge razor blade, such blades generally have a projection at the edge of the blade opposite the cutting edge, which can nest in said groove.

To provide substantial support to said blade 25 and to prevent lifting of the blade during shaving, a blade cover 29 is provided, which firmly locks the blade in position. The blade cover 29 is attached to the blade support 21 and firmly holds the blade 25 in position by suitable attachment means, herein illustrated as a bolt 31 and nut 33. The blade cover 29 has a beveled upper edge 30 which facilitates the curling and easy removal of chips resulting from planing a surface. The attachment means, herein illustrated as a bolt 31 and nut 33, are positioned so that the bolt 33 passes through an aperture formed in conventional razor blades. The bolt thus serves to prevent movement of said blade when the blade 25 is positioned between the blade support front portion and blade cover 29. It is, of course, possible to use a plurality of attachment means or an attachment means other than bolt 31 and nut 33 herein described, provided such attachment means firmly lock the blade to the blade support.

The blade support 21, when assembled in the plane of the invention, rests on the blade support mount 19, specifically, on the top surface thereof, and is secured to said mount by attachment means herein illustrated as a bolt 35 and nut 37. The bolt 35 is positioned so as to extend through an oblong-shaped aperture 38, more readily seen in FIGURE 4. This oblong-shaped aperture in said blade support permits sliding of the blade support 21 on said blade support mount 19 in the direction of, or away from, said slot 17 and thereby permits a varying degree of exposure of the blade edge 27 through said slot 17. By sliding the blade support toward the slot 17, the exposure of the blade edge 27 through said slot 17 is increased to permit a deep cut. Sliding the blade support away from said slot 17 exposes less of the blade edge and provides a shallow cut. Such adjustment is readily obtained by loosening the nut 37 and manually adjusting the position of the blade support and then tightening said nut 37 to secure the blade in the desired cutting position.

The plane of the invention may be fabricated of any material hard enough to support the blade and withstand the friction of planing. Suitable plastic or metal materials will be suggested to those in the art. Preferably, the plane is fabricated of stainless steel, because of the factors of strength, durability, and esthetic appeal.

It is readily seen from the foregoing description that this invention provides a hand plane, using a conventional razor blade as the plane iron, which is suitable for deep or shallow shaving without breakage or Chipping of the blade and which allows for easy adjustment of the blade. The necessity of grinding or sharpening of a blade iron is eliminated because of the availability of the sharp and inexpensive razor blades used as the plane iron.

The problems of chipping and breaking are eliminated by the unique construction of the blade support and the positioning of the blade support mount in association with each other. The angle of the blade support mount is an important aspect of the proper functioning of the novel plane. If the angle a of the blade support mount is too small, the result is the bending of the edge of the blade in contact with the work piece. If the angle a is too great, the surface of the work piece will be scratched.

In addition, the angle of the bevel on the flat element of the blade support being supplementary to the angle of the blade support mount results in a substantially flat surface in contact with the work piece. This enables the blade support to extend through the slot and provide sufficient support for the blade up to the cutting edge of the blade. This unique arrangement provides additional support for the blade to prevent chipping or breaking. Thus, the novel plane, when used for fine shaving, corner work, or for deep shaving, will not suffer from the breakage or chipping of the blade that has heretofore been experienced with small hand planes.

What is claimed is:

1. A hand plane comprising:

(a) a channel having a bottom and a pair of upwardly extending side walls,

(b) a slot in said bottom extending transversely there- (c) a blade support mount attached to the upper surface of said bottom, inside said channel and at a distance from said slot, the top surface of said mount forming an acute angle with respect to said bottom,

(d) a blade support comprising a flat element in association with a razor blade, a blade cover and a blade stop; said flat element having a front portion with a beveled edge, the angle of said bevel being supplementary to the acute angle of the blade support mount, and a rear portion having said blade stop thereon; said blade stop being positioned to expose a cutting edge of the razor blade from said blade support, said blade being nested between said flat element and said blade cover; said blade cover firmly positioning said blade against said flat element and said blade stop,

(e) a first attachment means for securing said blade cover, blade and flat element in association with each other, and

(f) a second attachment means to position said blade support on said blade support mount, said blade support being slidably attached to said blade support mount to permit extension of said blade through said slot.

2. The hand plane of claim 1 wherein said acute angle is between 20-25 3. The hand plane of claim 1 wherein said first attachment means is a threaded bolt and nut.

4. The hand plane of claim 1 wherein said second attachment means is a threaded bolt and nut.

5. The hand plane of claim 1 wherein said blade cover has a beveled front edge to facilitate the easy curling and removal of shavings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,623,644 4/1927 Tvedt -5 X 2,636,529 4/1953 Miltenburg 1455 2,648,363 8/1953 Weber l4516 X ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner R. V. PARKER, JR., Assistant Examiner 

